Second attacker arrested in assault on Delray teens

Wednesday

City police said a terrible crime occurred in Althmese Britt's neighborhood on Thursday, but the church-going grandmother never imagined their suspect was sleeping in her house.

Authorities this morning came to her door and carried her 17-year-old grandson, Spencer Britt Jr., away to face charges of sexual assault and armed robbery, among others.

"He had a crowd he fooled around with. And I told him, there's nothing but trouble out there. It's best for you to come home early and leave that crowd alone," the grandmother said. "I've been talking and talking and talking and trying to help him out. It was in vain."

The crime he's accused of committing is too horrible for his grandmother to fathom.

Police said Britt and another man, 20-year-old Francisco Henry, came upon four teenagers playing cards in an abandoned house, robbed them at gunpoint and then made them strip and perform sex acts on each other.

The attack started about 2:30 p.m. and lasted about an hour, police said. Henry or Britt fired a handgun into a wall to force the teenagers to act, according to an affidavit for Henry's arrest.

At one point, Britt pointed a gun at a victim and said, "You look like a gangster. I might as well shoot you," according to the affidavit.

The victims, three boys and a girl, all were 17 or younger, the affidavit said.

Henry was arrested Tuesday and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail. A judge ordered him held without bail.

Fingerprints found at the crime scene, at 2554 Angler Drive, led investigators to Britt, the affidavit said.

In an interview with police Detective John Young, Britt, an 11th grader at Drop Back In Academy, said he was in the house when Henry committed the crimes, the affidavit said.

An attorney for Henry, however, said investigators have the wrong man. "Mr. Henry really has been arrested as an innocent person," said Andrew D. Stine, adding police appeared to lack physical evidence. "He's got a complete alibi."

Britt was taken to the Palm Beach County Juvenile Assessment Center.

As he was booked in, detective Young still was looking for a third man, a "Good Samaritan" who interrupted the attacks on Thursday, Young said.

That man can help make air-tight cases against Henry and Britt if he comes forward, said Officer Jeff Messer, police spokesman.

Back at Britt's grandmother's house, just around the corner from the crime scene, Althmese Britt, 86, recalled how she felt when news of the sex attacks flashed across her television screen.